PRACTICE & PERFORMANCE
East Coast snapshots
John Heaton FCILT chooses three notable East Coast Main Line runs to illustrate how performance has changed from the Edwardian age (and the early days of The Railway Magazine) to more recent ‘New Elizabethan’ times.
AS we enter the territory of The Railway Magazine’s illustrious quasquicentennial (125th) year, it is worth reflecting on how one of the main line railways has changed during that time by putting the microscope on three specific events.
While idling away a few minutes looking at the Railway Performance Society (RPS) archive with this in mind, I fell upon an account of a run from King’s Cross to Grantham undertaken by driver William Peel of the Lincolnshire depot. The details were brought to the attention of the Great Northern Railway Society (GNRS) during the ‘A4’ celebration held at Grantham in 2013, the details being written up by Steve White and kindly lodged in the RPS archive by the GNRS.
On August 17, 1910, driver Peel was in charge of large-boilered Atlantic No. 286 at the head of the 6.05pm King’s Cross to Manchester London Road via Retford and Sheffield. Mr CCJ Marchington of Corstophine (Edinburgh) was timing the train at every full milepost and subsequently sent a copy of the log to driver Peel. I have interpolated the milepost figures to give a geographical basis to the log using easily recognisable passing points as shown in Table 1.
Mr Marchington’s signature is not clear, so apologies if the name is incorrect. He assessed the load as 165tons, which is thought by the GNRS to be one of the specially built 1906 three-coach sets constructed for these trains (made up of a Brake Third, Open Third and Composite Dining Car, totalling 123tons), augmented by other vehicles, perhaps a Hull portion.
Driver Peel would have been approximately 55 years of age at the time of the run, arguably at the peak of his prowess. He had entered railway service in 1872, completing almost 44 years up to his retirement and died in 1937 aged 82.
“Driver Peel was one of that vast unsung body of artisans on which the prosperity of Edwardian Britain was founded”
On the summer’s evening in question, the Ivatt 4-4-2 was 1min late starting but made an energetic departure passing Finsbury Park in 4m59s at 50mph and seeming to balance at 53mph on the 1-in-200 towards Potter’s Bar. The corresponding descent towards Arlesey allowed speed to reach 73½mph before the brakes were applied for a 40mph temporary speed restriction (TSR).
A speed of 71mph was reached at Offord prior to a signal check near Huntingdon, with speed falling from 59mph through the station to 54mph on the 1-in-200 to Ley’s summit, before reaching 72mph downhill to Connington. After negotiating Peterborough at 25mph, speed rose to 64mph on the 1-in-264 to Essendine, with 55mph maintained on the 1-in-200 through Little Bytham until signals disappointingly spoilt the rest of the run into Grantham.
Unfortunately, the schedule is unavailable but some of the averages are surprising. The gross time for the 105½miles was 110m41s at an average start to stop speed of 57.2mph. It is hard to estimate, but I suspect the net time was no longer than 105½min at a 60mph average. The average speed to pass Peterborough in 76m10s had been 60.1mph and the 60.05 miles from Stevenage to Essendine occupied only 58m26s at an average speed of 61.7mph; a section that included a 40mph TSR, 25mph through Peterborough and two minor signal checks.
Preserved GNR Atlantics ‘C2’ No. 990 and ‘C1’ No. 251 returned to the main line in 1953 to work railtours in connection with events to mark 100 years of Doncaster Works, where both had been built. Exactly a week before the ‘Plant Centenarian’ on September 20, 1953, the two locos are seen heading north through Finsbury Park with a crew familiarisation run.
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